The Baseball Player and the Walrus

PreS-Gr 1—Is there a child who hasn't dreamed of bringing an animal home from the zoo? In this debut picture book, a sad and lonely baseball player spends a day at the zoo and decides he must buy his new walrus friend. While this picture book could steer into the murky area of animal neglect, the author and illustrator do a wonderful job of showing the realities of owning an exotic animal. For example, before the walrus comes home the baseball player builds a "special enclosure in his backyard for the walrus. It had a huge pool and plenty of places to lie out, and a retractable roof in case it got too cold or too hot. He bought lots of fish and barrels of walrus vitamins, and had fancy lights installed." Once the baseball player goes on the road with his team, he becomes sad and lonely and realizes he wants to be home with the walrus, so he quits. Of course, then the unemployed baseball player has no money for his expensive pet, so the walrus must go back to the zoo. Luckily there is a happy ending for both characters. The text and hand-drawn pencil illustrations are a perfect match in this story. While the story is complex, the author chooses his words wisely and the length is perfect for one-on-one sharing or a school age storytime.—Brooke Newberry, La Crosse Public Library, WI